Monday, November 22, 2010

Since my life has revolved around this marathon lately, it has helped me even more to learn to love my body. It's not the way you think though! I will never be the slimmest, most muscular person you know, but I love that God has blessed me with a strong, healthy body. My body has created life and carried it for 9 months! I am almost 30 and my body has carried me hundreds of miles over the past 4 months. Isn't that amazing?!I feel like a positive body image is so important for a female now more than ever. Now that I have a daughter, I want her to always know that my body isn't perfect but it doesn't need to be. I hope that I will never talk negatively about my body in front of her and I purposely do not own a scale so that she won't see me judging myself by a number.

I saw this quote in Runner's World not too long ago and I hope you like it as much as I do:It is the runner in me who understands that the beauty of my body is in the things it can do, not the way it looks doing them.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

This is a post from a couple of years ago, but I wanted to copy it and share it again. Sears is a big supporter of the military and I encourage you to please buy at least one thing there amidst all your Christmas shopping!_______From 17 Nov 2008:

I originally posted this at My Military Life but wanted to post it here too. I came across the following in a military spouses forum that I participate in. Like the author of the message, Sears is usually not my first choice. However, I am going to pledge to buy at least 1 gift there this holiday season just on principle. I hope you will do the same. All of this information can be verified at: http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/sears.asp http://www.searsholdings.com/communityrelations/hero/military.htm

Sears - Christmas shopping has already started

I know I needed this reminder since Sears isn’t always my first choice. Amazing when you think of how long the war has lasted and they haven’t withdrawn from their commitment.

Could we each buy at least one thing at Sears this year?

How does Sears treat its employees who are called up for military duty? By law, they are required to hold their jobs open and available, but nothing more. Usually, people take a big pay cut and lose benefits as a result of being called up.

Sears is voluntarily paying the difference in salaries and maintaining all benefits, including medical insurance and bonus programs, for all called up reservist employees for up to two years.

I submit that Sears is an exemplary corporate citizen and should be recognized for its contribution. I suggest we all shop at Sears, and be sure to find a manager to tell them why we are there so the company gets the positive reinforcement it well deserves.

Pass it on.

Decided to check this before I sent it forward. So I sent the following e-mail to the Sears Customer Service Department:

I received this e-mail and I would like to know if it is true. If it is, the Internet may have just become one very good source of advertisement for your company. I know I would go out of my way to buy products from Sears instead of another store for a like item, even if it’s cheaper at that store.

This is their answer to my e-mail:

Dear Customer:

Thank you for contacting Sears. The information is factual. We appreciate your positive feedback. Sears regards service to our country as one of greatest sacrifices our young men and women can make. We are happy to do our part to lessen the burden they bear at this time.

Bill ThornSears Customer Carewebcenter@sears.com1-800-349-4358

Please pass this on to all your friends. Sears needs to be recognized for this outstanding contribution and we need to show them as Americans, we do appreciate what they are doing for our military!!!

I think we all should shop there, and again tell the store manger why!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

My friend, Ashley, is participating in 30 Days of Truth on her blog. I thought it looked interesting so she shared the "questions" with me. Some of these are kind of deep and I haven't decided how I feel about that. There is no way I will be able to do all 30 days in a row though, so they will probably be posted sporadically. Here is Day 1 though!

Day 1 - Something You Hate About Yourself

I had to think about this one for a minute, but only a minute! I hate that I am not a good housekeeper! It's not that my house isn't clean, because it is totally sanitary and healthy. I'm just bad about clutter. It's a constant source of stress for me, yet I am unmotivated to do enough about it. I've tried FlyLady and Motivated Moms systems, but neither one seems right for me. It definitely doesn't help that Marlie seems to create a mess twice as fast as I can clean one up! I am trying to get better about teaching her to clean up her own toys, but that will definitely be a work in progress for a while (I'm guessing until she's around 18?). I can only hope that one day I'll get the hang of this...

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan.In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well. Pat into the bottom of prepared pan and set aside.Still using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth; add eggs and vanilla. Dump in confectioners' sugar and beat well. Reduce speed of mixer and slowly pour in butter. Mix well.Pour filling onto cake mixture and spread evenly. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Don't be afraid to make a judgment call on the cooking time, because oven temperatures can vary. You want the center to be a little gooey, so don't bake it past that point!Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares. Just remember that these wonderful little cakes are very, very rich, and a little will go a long way!

Pumpkin: Follow the original recipe, adding a 15-ounce can of pumpkin pie filling and an extra egg to the cream cheese filling. Bake as usual, remove from oven, and allow to cool. Cut into squares and top each square with a pecan half. Serve with a dollop of fresh whipped cream.

Thursday, November 04, 2010

One month from today is the big 26.2 miler! I've been able to take a break from running this week, but next week is our last BIG week! We will run a total of 20 miles Monday through Wednesday and then a 20 mile run on Friday! After that, our mileage will start to back down again so that our body can recover in preparation for the race. I am still trying to raise more money for St Jude until race day. Please consider making a donation to St Jude. You can click the link below and it will take you directly to a secure website where you can donate online.

I've shared some of these before, but here are some quick facts about St Jude:

The daily operating cost for St. Jude is nearly $1.5 million, which is primarily covered by public contributions.

During the past five years, 81 cents of every dollar received has supported the research and treatment at St. Jude.

St. Jude recently completed an extensive expansion program that bolstered the hospital’s research and treatment efforts, while more than doubling the size of its original campus. The campus now has 2.5 million square feet of research, clinical and administrative space dedicated to finding cures and saving children. The expansion included the Children’s GMP, LLC, currently the nation’s only pediatric research center on-site facility for the research and production of highly specialized treatments and vaccines; an expanded Department of Immunology; and a new Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics for discovery of new drugs.

The Chili’s Care Center, opened in November 2007, integrates patient care and research where rapidly evolving CT (computerized tomography) and MR (magnetic resonance) technologies keep St. Jude at the cutting edge for radiation therapy in a pediatric/adolescent setting. Additionally, a state-of-the-art cyclotron enables St. Jude researchers to undertake many important new PET (positron emission tomography) studies. These imaging techniques facilitate the rapid evaluation of new therapeutic approaches and help choose those most likely to be successful.

St. Jude pioneered a combination of chemotherapy, radiation and surgery to treat childhood cancers.

Peter C. Doherty, PhD, of the St. Jude Immunology department, won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1996. He shares the award with Rolf M. Zinkernagel, MD, of the University of Zurich. Their findings have led to breakthroughs in the understanding and treatment of viral infections and cancers, and in the development of organ transplant procedures and vaccines.

St. Jude patients are referred by a physician, and generally have a disease currently under study and are eligible for a current research protocol on clinical research trials.

St. Jude researchers and doctors are treating children with genetic immune defects and pediatric AIDS, as well as using new drugs and therapies to fight infections.

St. Jude was the first institution to develop a cure for sickle cell disease with a bone marrow transplant and has one of the largest pediatric sickle cell programs in the country.

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

This past Saturday was the 2nd running of the Clarksville Half Marathon. Last year's race was my first half marathon and the best thing I can say about it was that it was a learning experience! I have now run 3 half marathons (and 13.1 miles more than that!) so this year was much more enjoyable. Since my mom was in town, she was able to stay with Marlie and then come to see me finish the race. It was fun to have fans for the first time!

When Marlie woke up on Saturday, she told my mom that she needed to put on her cheerleader outfit since she was going to cheer for me! Here she is waiting patiently near the finish line.

Around Mile 12...

When Marlie saw me she took off running towards me. Mama panicked a little but I assured her that it was ok for Marlie to cross the finish line with me. This was obviously my favorite part of the race!

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

We had quite a few Halloween related events to attend this year, so by the time Halloween weekend actually arrived, we were just about over it!It began on the 22nd with a family friendly coffee group meeting. Marlie was excited to wear her costume for the first time and she enjoyed being able to play with one of her favorite friends, David (aka Buzz Lightyear!).

I finally decided that it would be safe to go ahead and carve our pumpkin the weekend before Halloween. Marlie enjoyed helping Bryan last year, but this time she would not come close to touching the inside of the pumpkin! Needless to say, I was left doing ALL the work!

On Thursday night, Bryan's unit held a Trunk or Treat for the families. Since I'm an FRG leader, that meant that I was in charge of our trunk and was working the whole night. On Friday night, Marlie & I got dressed up again and we (along with my mom who was visiting) went to our favorite sushi restaurant. The restaurant was having a costume contest the whole week and the winner would get a $50 gift card. I found out yesterday morning that we were the winners!